Base of Operations: formerly New
York City (all five boroughs);
formerly the Mesopotamian during the Dynasty of Agade (@ 2000 BC until
modern era)

Education: Trained in astrology

First Appearance: Spider-Man Zaps Mr.
Zodiac (1976)

Powers/Abilities: Mr. Zodiac could take
the form of any of the twelve zodiac signs. Usually he took a
form of immense size (he might become a 50 to 100 foot tall human
or proportionately large animal), strength, and great destructive
power. He could apparently gain mass from an unspecified location
(possibly extradimensional) and he gained the power of whatever
form he took. As Aquarius he was a giant who used a seemingly
bottomless pail to flood the city; As Aries, Cancer, Capricorn,
Leo, Pisces, Scorpio, and Taurus, he took the form of an immense
ram, crab, goat, lion, shark, scorpion, and bull, respectively.
In each case, he had whatever claws, horns, stingers, etc.
appropriate to that form. As Gemini, he was a pair of muscular
"Kung Fu wrestlers." As Libra, he was a set of immense
scales, which flew over the city. As Sagittarius, he was a giant
archer. His most commonly assumed form was that of Jane Virgo, in
which he appeared as a twenty year old, platinum blonde woman.

Astro had to change forms,
at least every twelve hours, or his body would degenerate into
its true age and crumble into dust. In addition, the process of
changing form required intense concentration and lasted about ten
minutes.

History:
(Spider-Man Zaps Mr. Zodiac (fb)) <2000 BC> - As a young
boy in the Middle East, he studied astrology. Trying to get as
close to the sky as possible, Astro climbed to the top of what he
thought was an inactive volcano. One day the volcano erupted, the
spout of lava ionizing the surrounding air, exposure to which
baked the outer layer of his brain and permanently altered his
body chemistry. Screaming, he fled into a cave-like hole, the
mouth of which was instantly sealed by solidified lava. For four
thousand years, Astro remained alive by remaining virtually
motionless in a semi-inert state. Two to three times each day,
his cells divided, re-divided, and redistributed themselves. As
he had been thinking of the astrological signs, at the time of
the eruption, those were the forms his body took with each
transformation. This dividing somehow prevented his brain from
realizing that he was aging, and his powers kept him young.
However, if he failed to keep up his regular transformation
schedule, his mind would recognize its true age and he would
crumble into dust.

After 4000 years, the
volcano erupted again, and the sealed cave containing Astro was
cracked open. Realizing how long he had been trapped, Astro's
mind cracked as well, and he sought to take revenge for fate's
cheating him of a normal life. He destroyed several cities in the
Middle East before moving on. Traveling to America, he realized
that he still had to eat, and thus needed to make a living. As
astrology was all he knew, he decided to write a newspaper column
on the subject. Taking of the aspect of Virgo, he got a job
working for the Daily Bugle as Jane Virgo.

(Spider-Man Zaps Mr. Zodiac) - "Jane"
met Peter Parker, and the two shared a series of lunch pizzas
together. Each night, however, they clashed as one of the zodiac
aspects fought Spidey. Jonah criticized Peter's inability to get
good pictures of Mr. Zodiac, but each day Peter shared his
theories on where Astro might strike, and "Jane" used
that info to strike somewhere else. Spidey showed up only after
Mr. Zodiac had been rampaging for some time. Each night Mr.
Zodiac escaped him, but at lunch each day, "Jane"
slipped and made some comment that referenced her nocturnal
activities. When Spidey pulled a horn off Aries on night, and
"Jane" came in the next day with a headache and a band-aid
on her head, Pete finally made the connection.

He confronted Jane, but she
managed to escape in her car and flee back to her home in Long
Island. Shortly after arriving, they ran into Peter's Aunt May
and the young boy, Ben, she was watching for the summer. "Jane"
took Ben hostage, and Pete was forced to stay behind to medicate
his sickly aunt. After May was treated, Spider-Man pursued Mr.
Zodiac relentlessly, but he managed to drive Spidey away by
threatening Ben, or by putting others at risk. Each time, Mr.
Zodiac was able to get 10 minutes of privacy to concentrate on
another transformation.

This pursuit quite literally
went on for days, until Spidey figured out that Zodiac need to
concentrate in order to transform. He told Ben to recite his
multiplication tables to distract Zodiac, and the villain
remained unable to transform. Finally, Zodiac collapsed; Spidey
webbed him up, but the villain crumbled too dust within seconds.

Jonah, of course, blamed
Peter for driving off Jane Virgo.

Comments: Created by George S. Elrick.

OK, this is the first Marvel
"comic" I ever read. A couple years later I started
into regular comics, and I have no idea whatever happened to that
"Big Little Book." Just a couple weeks ago (December,
2003), I purchased a beat-up little copy off of E-Bay. The book
is like 240 pages long, but every other page is a picture, the
font is huge, and there are like 3 short paragraphs per page. I
read it in about 20 minutes the night it arrived.
The style of the writing is very simple, as
it's clearly geared for kids, and a lot of the explanations are
really hokey. Still, it is very fun, and takes me WAY back.
Anyway, I'd guess that Astro might have been a latent mutant,
whose powers surfaced from the trauma of the explosion and
entombment, or something like that. He must have had superhuman
ability to not suffocate in such an enclosed space for 4000 years--I'm
not sure what they meant by recycling the air, unless he could
take plant form and convert the carbon dioxide to oxygen (though,
he would have needed light for that). I guess he could have just
been in one of those classic death-like states: good ol'
suspended animation (which is mentioned in the story, but if his
cells were dividing and changing his form, that's not really
suspended, now is it? ;)
Is this story canon? No, only the mainstream
comics meet that distinction. Could it have happened? Sure. It
would seem to likely take place sometime during Peter Parker's
college or grad school years. Betty was still Jonah's secretary,
but she might have just been subbing. She was jealous of Peter's
interest in Jane, but that doesn't mean she wasn't married to Ned.
Aunt May was spending the summer in Long Island, which I don't
remember, but it may have just been a long vacation not married
elsewhere. Rest assured, if I have any say in it, I'll get it
included in the next Spider-Man Encyclopedia.

He came to stay with May Parker in Long Island
for a summer, but ended up as the hostage of Mr. Zodiac. Though
he was initially terrified, Spider-Man convinced him to help by
distracting Zodiac, preventing the villain from concetrating
enough to change shape.